Stefan Caddy-Retalic

Stefan Caddy-Retalic

School of Biological Sciences

College of Science

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.


I am interested in promoting sustainable urban landscapes, including more resilient trees, in Australia. I am also interested in using living and preserved plant collections to enhance biodiversity conservation, improve quality of life and enable new science. My research combines biomolecular techniques (stable isotopes, DNA metabarcoding) with traditional ecological survey methods (vegetation metrics, invertebrate trapping) to integrate species change from a population to biome level. My fieldwork is conducted on a climate gradient from the south coast of South Australia through the Mt Lofty Ranges, Flinders Ranges, Gammon Ranges and Stony Plains to investigate changes within species, communities and biomes to better understand the interrelationships and drivers of this change.

In addition to my scientific work, I have a strong interest in working with government and have worked in environmental policy and programs for the South Australian and Commonwealth governments. I have also managed science projects for the University of Adelaide and Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). My primary interest is in conducting research to address real world problems and bridging the gap between ecological theory and the current needs of land managers.

Date Institution name Country Title
2014 - 2017 University of Adelaide Australia PhD
2007 - 2008 Flinders University Australia Honours (1st Class)
2003 - 2006 Flinders University Australia Bachelor of Innovation & Enterprise
2003 - 2006 Flinders University Australia Bachelor of Science

Year Citation
2025 Williams, C., Byrne, C., Evenden, S., Soebarto, V., Caddy-Retalic, S., Williams, C., . . . Lowe, A. (2025). Urban green space provision: the case for policy-based solutions to support human health. Medical Journal of Australia, 222(3), 110-113.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4
2022 Munroe, S. E. M., McInerney, F. A., Guerin, G. R., Andrae, J. W., Welti, N., Caddy-Retalic, S., . . . Sparrow, B. (2022). Plant families exhibit unique geographic trends in C4 richness and cover in Australia. PLoS One, 17(8), e0271603-1-e0271603-21.
DOI Scopus6 WoS6 Europe PMC1
2021 Dorey, J. B., Rebola, C. M., Davies, O. K., Prendergast, K. S., Parslow, B. A., Hogendoorn, K., . . . Caddy-Retalic, S. (2021). Continental risk assessment for understudied taxa post-catastrophic wildfire indicates severe impacts on the Australian bee fauna. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, 27(24), 17 pages.
DOI Scopus19 WoS18 Europe PMC9
2021 Munroe, S. E. M., McInerney, F. A., Andrae, J., Welti, N., Guerin, G. R., Leitch, E., . . . Sparrow, B. (2021). The photosynthetic pathways of plant species surveyed in Australia’s national terrestrial monitoring network. Scientific Data, 8(1), 97-1-97-10.
DOI Scopus9 WoS8 Europe PMC3
2020 Caddy-Retalic, S., Wardle, G. M., Leitch, E. J., McInerney, F. A., & Lowe, A. J. (2020). Vegetation change along a Mediterranean to arid zone bioclimatic gradient reveals scale-dependent ecotone patterning. Australian Journal of Botany, 68(8), 574-586.
DOI Scopus5 WoS4
2020 Dong, N., Prentice, I. C., Wright, I. J., Evans, B. J., Togashi, H. F., Caddy-Retalic, S., . . . Lowe, A. J. (2020). Components of leaf-trait variation along environmental gradients. New Phytologist, 228(1), 82-94.
DOI Scopus168 WoS145 Europe PMC81
2020 Sparrow, B. D., Foulkes, J. N., Wardle, G. M., Leitch, E. J., Caddy-Retalic, S., van Leeuwen, S. J., . . . Lowe, A. J. (2020). A vegetation and soil survey method for surveillance monitoring of rangeland environments. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 8, 157-1-157-18.
DOI Scopus40 WoS39
2019 Caddy-Retalic, S., Hoffmann, B. D., Guerin, G. R., Andersen, A. N., Wardle, G. M., McInerney, F. A., & Lowe, A. J. (2019). Plant and ant assemblages predicted to decouple under climate change. Diversity and Distributions, 25(4), 551-567.
DOI Scopus13 WoS12
2018 Baruch, Z., Caddy-Retalic, S., Guerin, G. R., Sparrow, B., Leitch, E., Tokmakoff, A., & Lowe, A. J. (2018). Floristic and structural assessment of Australian rangeland vegetation with standardized plot-based surveys. PLoS ONE, 13(9), e0202073-1-e0202073-18.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC1
2018 Dormontt, E., van Dijk, K., Bell, K., Biffin, E., Breed, M., Byrne, M., . . . Lowe, A. (2018). Advancing DNA barcoding and metabarcoding applications for plants requires systematic analysis of herbarium collections-an Australian perspective. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 6(SEP), 1-12.
DOI Scopus70 WoS61
2018 Baruch, Z., Jones, A., Hill, K. E., McInerney, F., Blyth, C., Caddy-Retalic, S., . . . Breed, M. (2018). Functional acclimation across microgeographic scales in Dodonaea viscosa. AoB Plants, 10(3), ply029-1-ply029-15.
DOI Scopus4 WoS4 Europe PMC3
2018 Howard, S., McInerney, F., Caddy-Retalic, S., Hall, P., & Andrae, J. (2018). Modelling leaf wax n-alkane inputs to soils along a latitudinal transect across Australia. Organic Geochemistry, 121, 126-137.
DOI Scopus34 WoS32
2017 Baruch, Z., Christmas, M., Breed, M., Guerin, G., Caddy-Retalic, S., McDonald, J., . . . Lowe, A. (2017). Leaf trait associations with environmental variation in the wide-ranging shrub Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustissima (Sapindaceae). Austral Ecology, 42(5), 553-561.
DOI Scopus20 WoS18 Europe PMC4
2017 Dong, N., Colin Prentice, I., Evans, B., Caddy-Retalic, S., Lowe, A., & Wright, I. (2017). Leaf nitrogen from first principles: field evidence for adaptive variation with climate. Biogeosciences, 14(2), 481-495.
DOI Scopus74 WoS74
2017 Caddy-Retalic, S., Andersen, A. N., Aspinwall, M., Breed, M. F., Byrne, M., Christmas, M., . . . Lowe, A. J. (2017). Bioclimatic transect networks: powerful observatories of ecological change. Ecology and Evolution, 7(13), 4607-4619.
DOI Scopus24 WoS22 Europe PMC10
2017 Bissett, A., Fitzgerald, A., Court, L., Meintjes, T., Mele, P. M., Reith, F., . . . Young, A. (2017). Erratum: Introducing BASE: The Biomes of Australian Soil Environments soil microbial diversity database [GigaScience. 5, 1, (2016) (1-11)] DOI: 10.1186/s13742-016-0126-5. Gigascience, 6(5), 1.
DOI Scopus4 WoS3 Europe PMC1
2016 Bissett, A., Fitzgerald, A., Meintjes, T., Mele, P. M., Reith, F., Dennis, P. G., . . . Ferrari, B. C. (2016). Introducing BASE: the Biomes of Australian Soil Environments soil microbial diversity database. GigaScience, 5(1), 1-11.
DOI Scopus189 WoS188 Europe PMC117
2015 Campbell, C. A., Lefroy, E. C., Caddy-Retalic, S., Bax, N., Doherty, P. J., Douglas, M. M., . . . West, J. (2015). Designing environmental research for impact. Science of the Total Environment, 534, 4-13.
DOI Scopus40 WoS41 Europe PMC7
2011 Caddy-Retalic, S., Benkendorff, K., & Fairweather, P. (2011). Visualizing hotspots: Applying thermal imaging to monitor internal temperatures in intertidal gastropods. Molluscan Research, 31(2), 106-113.
Scopus19 WoS20

Year Citation
2021 Munroe, S., McInerney, F., Andrae, J., Welti, N., Guerin, G., Leitch, E., . . . Sparrow, B. (2021). Plants down under: defining and mapping the photosynthetic pathway of plants across Australia. Poster session presented at the meeting of TERN Science Symposium.
2017 Caddy-Retalic, S., Hoffmann, B., Guerin, G. R., Andersen, A., Wardle, G., McInerney, F., & Lowe, A. (2017). The potential decoupling of plant and ant communities with climate change. Poster session presented at the meeting of Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting. Portland, USA.
2016 Guerin, G. R., Caddy-Retalic, S., Christmas, M., & Lowe, A. J. (2016). Projected climate change implications for the South Australian flora. Poster session presented at the meeting of 'Botany 2016 – Past, Present and Future' Symposium. South Australian NRM Science Conference.. The University of Adelaide.
2015 Lowe, A. J., Guerin, G. R., caddy-retalic., & Christmas. (2015). Species and gene turnover along environmental gradients - windows into the future. Poster session presented at the meeting of Interconnectedness. Ecological Society of Australia Annual Conference 2015. The Hilton Hotel, Adelaide.
2015 Baruch, Z., Guerin, G. R., Leitch, E., Tokmakoff, A., Caddy-Retalic, S., Sparrow, B., & Lowe, A. J. (2015). Continental analysis of Australian rangeland vegetation: floristic and structural diversity. Poster session presented at the meeting of Interconnectedness. Ecological Society of Australia Annual Conference 2015. The Hilton Hotel, Adelaide.
2013 Lowe, A. J., Caddy-Retalic, S., Guerin, G. R., Andersen, A., Rossetto, M., van Leeuwen, S., & Sweeney, S. (2013). TREND and the Australian Transect Network: windows to our future environment. Poster session presented at the meeting of TREND Human Dimensions Symposium. Adelaide, SA.

Year Citation
2022 Belder, R. L., Delaporte, K. D., & Caddy-Retalic, S. (2022). Urban tree protection in Australia: Review of regulatory matters.
2015 Guerin, G. R., Sweeney, S. M., Pisanu, P., Caddy-Retalic, S., & Lowe, A. J. (2015). Establishment of an ecosystem transect to address climate change policy questions for natural resource management.

Year Citation
2008 Caddy-Retalic, S. (2008). Thermoregulatory ability in the temperate intertidal gastropod Nerita atramentosa. (Flinders University).

Year Citation
2014 Lowe, A. J., & Caddy-Retalic. (2014). Will the climate debate end up being fought in court?. The Conversation.
2012 lowe., & Caddy-retalic. (2012). Genetically linked, a continent apart: the rise of DNA barcoding. The Conversation.
2012 Caddy-Retalic, S., Caddy-Retalic, S., & Lowe, A. J. (2012). DNA barcoding: a better way to discover species. The Conversation.

Year Citation
2020 Munroe, S., McInerney, F., Andrae, J., Welti, N., Guerin, G., Emrys, L., . . . Sparrow, B. (2020). The Photosynthetic Pathways of Plant Species surveyed in TERN Ecosystem Surveillance Plots.
DOI
2016 Baruch, Z., Christmas, M., Breed, M. F., Guerin, G. R., Caddy-Retalic, S., McDonald, J., . . . Lowe, A. J. (2016). Leaf trait associations with environmental variation in the wide-ranging shrub Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustissima (Sapindaceae) Part 1: Latitude.
DOI
2016 Baruch, Z., Christmas, M., Breed, M. F., Guerin, G. R., Caddy-Retalic, S., McDonald, J. T., . . . Lowe, A. J. (2016). Leaf trait associations with environmental variation in the wide-ranging shrub Dodonaea viscosa subsp. angustissima (Sapindaceae) Part 2: Elevation.
DOI

Caddy-Retalic, S. & McInerney, F.A. TERN Australian Transect Network (2016) $25K

Caddy-Retalic, S. AW Howard Memorial Trust (2016) $3.5K

Caddy-Retalic, S. & McInerney, F. A. TERN eMast (2015) $4.7K

Caddy-Retalic, S. & McInerney F. A. State Herbarium of South Australia (2015) $1K

Caddy-Retalic, S. Ludwig Leichardt Postgraduate Sciences Fellowship (2014) 3 year stipend

Caddy-Retalic, S. Australian Postgraduate Award (Australian Research Council) (2014) 3 year stipend

Clancy, T., Phinn, S., Lowe, A., Saunders, M., Thurgate, N., Walker, C., Sparrow, B. & Caddy-Retalic, S. (2013) Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (NCRIS, Department of Education) $1.6M

Caddy-Retalic, S. & Benkendorff, K. Flinders University Equipment Grant (2008) $5K

Caddy-Retalic, S. Playford Memorial Trust Honours Scholarship (Marine Biology) (2008) $1K

I contribute lectures to topics including:

GEOG7002 Environmental Planning and Governance

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Co-Supervisor Improving the climate resilience of Adelaide's Urban Forest Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Tracey Gwendolynn Hart

Date Institution Department Organisation Type Country
2022 - 2022 Attorney Generals Department, Government of South Australia Planning and Land Use Services, Department for Trade and Investment Legislative and political Australia

Date Case Institution Country
2023 - 2023 Parliamentary Inquiry into the Urban Forest Parliament of South Australia Australia

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